I just wondered if anyone else on this list reviewed Lean Library<mailto:https://www.leanlibrary.com/> and had any security and/or privacy concerns.

Here is what our Director of Security had to say,

"I can confirm that browsing activity is sent to lean library. Attached is an example screenshot showing the POST when visiting a URL on reddit.com. And if you visit https://app.leanlibrary.com/?r=api/api/institutes it's trivial to see info about all subscribers of lean library.

Also, there are Repeated Pings to capture user IP Address. This was also verified during the session capture. This occurs via https://app.leanlibrary.com/?r=api/api/getIp."

Our Security Director goes on to say the following:

"Of course this is also a question of consent. Any users of the plugin should first have to consent to the privacy policy: https://www.leanlibrary.com/privacy-policy/item181 - which would be in conflict with deploying this automatically to lab computers. I have some issues with the privacy policy itself as well. It states:

What information does Lean Library and The Extension NOT obtain?
Your security and privacy is our biggest priority. We are only interested in information or data that can help us deliver the best experience possible in saving you time while and optimizing your academic research. Therefore, The Extension does not store any information for other browsing activity such as activity on non-database webpage urls.
Maybe they aren't technically "storing" the fact that I visited a URL on reddit.com, but that visit still went to their server and was captured / analyzed *somehow*. It would be more accurate for them to say that they analyze all sites you visit to determine whether they are academic in nature, or something. But that would be a red flag."

Thoughts?

Tammy Allgood Wolf
Director of Discovery Services
ASU Library
Arizona State University
480-965-1797